A team of scientists from the University of California, Santa Barbara have analyzed the data from hundreds of sources and have concluded in a new study that ocean life could face mass extinction because of humans. The new research was published yesterday in the journal Science and Douglas J. McCauley, one of the authors of the study, believes that ocean life could face mass extinction in the … [Read more...]
Breakthrough Prize Makes 14 World-Class Scientists $3 Million Richer
While the Nobel Prize is sought after by the crème de la crème of scientists, in terms of sheer dollars, there is one award that is even more coveted than the Nobel. This year, the Breakthrough Prize bestowed $3 million each to scientists who made outstanding breakthroughs in mathematics, physics and life sciences. By comparison, the Nobel Prize awards $1.9 million less. The award was … [Read more...]
Scientists Revived a 700-Year-Old Virus from Ancient Caribou
Scientists have managed to revive a 700-year-old virus from ancient caribou feces and used it to infect a living plant. This was done mainly to show that global warming could do the same to a plethora of other infectious viruses that are believed to be extinct. Genetic engineering has helped scientists replicate extinct viruses and study them. Because there was no way to preserve ancient … [Read more...]
Three New Fitbit Fitness Trackers Released
Fitbit has released three new Fitbit fitness trackers yesterday, during the Fitbit media event. Long before smartwatches were popular, Fitbit was making a name for itself in the wearables market, with the introduction of the pocket clip-on Fitbit Tracker in 2008. It sensed the user’s movement and measured the number of steps taken. It combined this with user data to calculate distances and … [Read more...]
Small Study Reveals that Cancer Drug Reverses Baldness
A small study whose findings have been made public, revealed that a drug that was used to treat a unusual form of leukemia had the peculiar side effect of reversing hair loss caused by alopecia. The study was published on Sunday, in the Nature Medicine journal. The drug in question is called ruxolitinib and it helps treat the inflammation that is caused by the disease. Apparently, it also helped … [Read more...]
Kilobots: Harvard Robots are the Future
The future is now! Researchers over at the Wyss Institute and the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, or SEAS have made public their most recent and impressive creation: autonomous robots that take simple orders to rearrange themselves into predetermined and highly complex shapes. This study which introduces these amazing little robots was published in the August issue of Science. … [Read more...]
High-Definition Camera Offers Glimpse into Lives of Arctic Snowy Owls
Arctic snowy owls are as beautiful as they are elusive and difficult to observe in their natural environment. However, scientists recently installed a high-definition camera, whose purpose is to observe the lives of these rare birds. The device was put up at a nesting site in Alaska this week and it immediately went live. Now, both scientists and the general public has the unprecedented chance of … [Read more...]
Study Explains How Electric Fish Developed Electricity Organ
Ever wondered how electric fish got their electricity producing organs? According to a new scientific report, published this week in Science, all the six different lineages of electric fish, which happen to have evolved independently from one another, made use of a single “genetic toolbox” to come up with their ability to generate electric power. The organ in question also helps them defend … [Read more...]
Old World Monkeys Developed Facial Features to Discourage Hybridization, Says Study
A recently published scientific study explains that the faces of Old World monkeys have evolved in order to prevent members of this species from crossbreeding. The report, which appeared this week in the academic journal Nature Communications, explains that the evolution of the monkeys’ facial feature is a direct result of the specie’s goal to “strengthen reproductive isolation between … [Read more...]
Scientists Discovered New Technique To Measure Nanoparticles’ Mass
Measuring the mass of a nanoparticle is a complex job. Recently, MIT engineers have discovered a way to measure its mass. Measurement of mass of a nanoparticle would help the scientists in better understanding the functioning and composition of the nanoparticles. The new system developed is known as SMR-Suspended Microchannel Resonator. It measures the mass of the minutest of particles with a … [Read more...]
